Extra Notes Flashcards
Why does Rochester try to change Bertha?
It’s a conceit for colonialism
He travelled to Antoinette’s home, changed her name - destroyed her identity and married her - binding her to him - this is what empires did during the time period - he claimed her as his
Rhy’s is challenging the fact that history is written by the victors - Jane Eyre tells Antoinette’s story from Rochester’s perspective - the victor
Wide Sargasso Sea is dedicated to the oppressed minorities and unspoken voices
What is atavism?
Going back to ancestral roots - regressing
Explain this quote:
“Who was massacred here? The slaves?… Nobody remembers now”
Both slave and slave owner refuse to recognise the humiliation and degradation of slavery - similar to how Rochester ignores the betrayal of his father and brother
Explain this quote:
“They notice clothes, they know about money”
Conceit for the black community
turned capitalist
They have adopted and endorse the system of wealth before heritage - the system which enslaved them
Explain this quote
“I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor jilted by this creole girl”
Ironic - Mr Rochester doesn’t want to look a fool by returning to England without his wife - however it is his marriage and legal binding to Antoinette that makes him a fool
He is more concerned about preserving his pride than marrying her out of love
Explain this quote
“A large moth… Blundered into one of the candles’ put it out and fell the floor”
This is a metaphor which symbolises Antoinette
Both Antoinette and the moth are self destructive and die as a result of wondering to close to the ‘fire’
Antoinette literally falls to her death
Explain this quote
“I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor jilted by this creole girl”
Ironic - Mr Rochester doesn’t want to look a fool by returning to England without his wife - however it is his marriage and legal binding to Antoinette that makes him a fool
He is more concerned about preserving his pride than marrying her out of love
Explain this quote
“A large moth… Blundered into one of the candles’ put it out and fell the floor”
This is a metaphor which symbolises Antoinette
Both Antoinette and the moth are self destructive and die as a result of wondering to close to the ‘fire’
Antoinette literally falls to her death
Explore the connections which the Garden of Eden has with Coulibri estate
Coulibri is compared to the garden of Eden with its luxurious excess and innocence
However, in her own words the garden has “gone wild” - the island is trying to conceal secrets
Antoinette describes an orchid as ‘snakes looking’, recalling the biblical fall of mans decline into greed
Man is enticed and even corrupted by beauty
The Caribbean was conquered and corrupted by the capitalist society and now Antoinette and other creole women, such as Anette, are suffering from their ancestors cruelty and participation of slavery
It could be argued that the colonial empires - Britain are France, symbolise Adam and Eve
The capitalists society represents the Snake or Devil
Metaphor
Explain this quote
“They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. But we were not in their ranks”
The white people protect themselves but not the creole population who were left vulnerable following the emancipation edict
What language did the black community speak?
Patois
What is significant about the death of the horse?
Death seemingly hovers over Antoinette’s every moment. One of the first memories she recounts from her childhood is that of her mother’s poisoned horse, lying dead in the heat and swarming with flies. This image creates a mood of sinister anticipation and points to an evil undercurrent haunting Coulibri. The death of the horse also foreshadows the deaths of Pierre, Antoinette’s mother, Aunt Cora, and Mr. Mason, all of which leave Antoinette without a family. So attuned to death’s presence in her childhood tale, Antoinette foreshadows her own violent end.
When was slavery abolished in the Caribbean?
1834
